“Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar” is the first line in World Class Fitness in 100 Words. I want to focus on the last two words: No sugar. While sugar on the molecular level is a neccessary component for the body as a source of energy, you will see that excess levels of sugar can be dangerous to your health. How so? First I must share with you a growth factor protein in the brain that is responsible for “helping to support the survival of existing neurons, and encourage the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses,” known as the BDNF, or Brain-derived Nuerotrophic Factor. BDNF is needed to learn new things and create and store memories. You need BDNF for any neural development.

Studies have shown that high sugar intake decreases BDNF. Low levels of BDNF have been linked to insulin resistance, Syndrome X and diabetes. As well, further studies show a direct correlation of low BDNF with depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.

Sugar comes in many forms and is called different names, but in the end, it is still sugar and has the same effects of lowering BDNF: table sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, evaporated cane syrup, coconut sugar, et al.

But what about stevia, the stuff in the yellow/blue/pink packets, you ask… Those aren’t sugars, right? I can surely sweeten my morning cup of coffee with that. Pharmaceutical companies (such as Searle and Company) and chemical giants, like Cargill and Monsanto, can take credit for developing sugar substitutes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be putting things in my body that were manufactured in a science lab. Both aspartame (the blue packet) and saccharin (the pink packet), while having ZERO food energy, still triggers a release of insulin in the body. Sucrolose (the yellow packet), when consumed, is not even recognized by the body as food matter and it not digestible. Stevia is a sugar substitute that is derived from the stevia plant, which sounds safe enough, until you find out that the solvent methanol (highly toxic in humans) is used during the extraction process.

If you must partake in a sweet treat, let it come from nature, not a lab; and make it special by enjoying it every so often, not part of your daily diet.